When Deira City Centre opened in 1995, it was the mall in Dubai — the reference point, the benchmark, the reason people drove from across the emirate. Carrefour was the anchor. The food court was the social hub. For a certain generation of Dubai residents, it is the mall they remember first.

It has not kept pace with what came after — Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates made it look modest by comparison. But it is still busy, still serves the Deira catchment well, and sits on the metro. The crowd is more local, the prices more practical, and nobody is there for the aquarium.

Old guard. Still standing.